A former Marine finds peace at Montana Veterans Home

It's 5 a.m. on a Monday morning and Rudy Matule has already been awake for two hours.

He's reading the Bible alone in his room at the Montana Veterans Home. He flips back and forth between the Bible and a study guide on Samuel, the book he's currently reading.

The room is quiet and dark, illuminated by a single, small reading lamp. Around 6 a.m. Matule puts on some warm clothes and heads out for his daily six-mile walk around the south side of Columbia Falls.

"If you don't get the car greased up in the morning, it's gonna squeak on you all day," Matule says as he grabs his cane.

Matule, 89, is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He fought on four islands in the Pacific Ocean during World War II, including Iwo Jima, a battle Lt. Gen. H.M. Smith, then commander of the Marines in the Pacific, called "the toughest and hardest fight in Marine Corps history."

Matule sums up the campaign as, "We won, but we sure got the s--- kicked out of us."

Matule is among a dwindling number of World War II veterans. Of the 16.1 million people who served in the U.S. armed forces during that war, only 5.4 million are still alive. About 1,100 World War II veterans die each day, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs.

For surviving veterans like Matule, time hasn't erased the memories of war.

He vividly remembers the fateful day in December 1941 that drew him into service. He was at a local bar when a friend rushed into the room.

"He told me that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor," Matule recalled. "The next morning we both enlisted."

Matule was a member of the 4th Marine Division, often referred to as the '"Fighting Fourth." The group spearheaded four major assaults on the islands Roi Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. On Saipan, the Fourth lost nearly a third of its men. The battle for Iwo Jima, which raged for over 30 days on an area five miles long and two miles wide, resulted in 9,098 casualties for the division - almost half of the Fourth's men at the time.

During the war, approximately 80,000 men fought with the 4th Division, and more than 17,000 of them died.

Matule was one of the original Marines assigned to the division. Over 80 percent of the men who were there with him in the beginning would eventually die in battle.

"Sometimes when I'm out walking and I'm all alone, I'll start thinking back about everything," said Matule. "I just think about all the great guys that are buried over there, and I feel real bad for them because they didn't get to live life like I did. Somehow God brought me out of that place, and I've tried to do my best every day since."

Born in Butte, Matule was a miner and a ditch digger during the Great Depression. He fondly refers to his birthplace as "the best town in the whole world." He was the fourth youngest of 13 children and although money was tight, his family always managed to make ends meet.

After the war he moved back to Butte. In 1947 he married Helen Maki, and they had a daughter, Maryanne. Two years later he opened Matule's Grocery Store on the east side of town and worked there for the next 33 years.

He moved to the veterans home two years ago. Most of his family and friends, including his wife and daughter, had died, and a late-night medical emergency made him realize he wasn't fully able to care for himself, so he decided it was time to leave Butte.

Matule shares his room at the home with Indy Halvorson, a fellow World War II veteran, originally from Missoula. The two live together in a 15-foot by 15-foot room divided in half by a curtain. They share a sink with each other, a toilet with two other men and a shower with around 40 others.

"We're in pretty tight quarters here, but we do our best to get along," Halvorson said. "I think most of us got used to being in close quarters in the service, so we know how to handle it."

"The bathroom situation could definitely be improved around here," Matule said. "But all in all they are really good to us. The best time of my life was during the Panic [after the stock market crash of 1929]. There was nothing to do and all day to do it in. And that's kind of how I feel about life here."

Specifically, he enjoys the medical care, the food and the staff at the facility. "All I can say is that I've been here for two years and I haven't gotten any worse."

Matule's daily routine typically includes Bible reading and walking, as well as two weight-lifting sessions and regular games of pinochle. Cliff "Cotton" Cottongim, a Korean War veteran and fellow card player, says other residents have noticed how active Matule is.

"When he's not around at the card games, we'll talk about him, and I always think it's funny because he's the oldest one of us, and we all sit around and talk about how healthy he is," Cottongim said.

Other than the card games, Matule spends most of his time alone, and says he enjoys it that way.

"I get along with everybody up here, but I like my space," he said. "I like to go walking and stay active and be outside. Sometimes it's easier to do that stuff on your own."

Cottongim called Matule a loner of sorts.

"He'll be alone all day, but then when he's around the home he's almost overly helpful," he said. "I think that's just second nature from his time as a grocery store owner, though."

Although Matule's time spent as a business owner may be part of the reason he is so quick to help others, other experiences have certainly made him both introverted and exceedingly helpful. When Matule's daughter was 14 she was diagnosed with diabetes. Matule helped his daughter through the disease, but after 13 years of health problems she died. A month later Matule's wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and for the next 15 years Matule spent most of his waking hours caring for his sick wife. She was unable to speak with him for the last 14 years they lived together.

"People used to ask me how I do it," Matule said.

"But I guess you never really know what you can do until you have to do it… I don't know what was more difficult, fighting on Iwo, or those 28 years where my wife and daughter were sick, but I certainly think one prepared me for the other," he said.

His beliefs about life have evolved from hard-knock experiences.

"I think a man's life is planned before he's even born, and we're just living out whatever happens. So it ain't what it is, it's what you make of it."

Staff members around the hospital say that Matule is doing a good job making the most out of his time in Columbia Falls.

"He keeps himself busy with things he enjoys, and that makes him a nice resident," activity director Bonnie Stutsman said.

"Every morning when I'm driving into work I'll see him out there walking, and it makes me smile to know that he's still out there doing something that he loves," nursing director Jan McFadden said.

Morning walks, steak dinners, conversations with friends, nonfiction books, jazz music - these are some of the things Matule derives enjoyment from these days. He prides himself in finding happiness in the little things, and he says that the little things are enough.

"I think I've done it all. My generation is the greatest generation there ever was, and I'll tell you why. We went from the horse and buggy to space. We've seen it all, so I guess that makes me pretty content."

Chris Jordan is an Inter lake staff photographer. He may be reached at 758-4435 or by e-mail at cjordan@dailyinterlake.com